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June 15 is not only Thursday this year. The Euroregion „Country of Lakes“ Office in Lithuania officially "closes" another project "Art Catcher" today. But we are only closing the doors of the first stage, sincerely believing that we have managed to open windows of opportunities for art residencies in our region. We have repeated many times during the project period and would like to do it again - we are proud that we managed to gather a team of great partners who planned, created and acted together. And today they confidently welcome creators, artists under their roof.

Visaginas dived into very young and specific field - contemporary circus, but they were the ones who organized the most artist residencies and thematic creative activities for the public during two years of the project, accepted 14 artists and continue to do so. We invite you to follow their journey and the opportunities offered here: https://visaginokultura.lt/naujienu-kategorija/rezidencija/

In Švenčionėliai, the artists' residence became a strategic part of the creative industries town. All activities moving in that direction are so related that it would be difficult to define what artists can discover and gain by choosing this particular residency. It's too wide to squeeze it into the frames of the residence. On the other hand, creative residencies are about comprehensiveness, unexpected perspectives, syntheses of different fields and the results of it. Therefore, the name of the residence "Trainspotting" is about a journey that always brings something more than you could expect. You can find more here: https://trainspotting.lt

The Art Center in Leliūnai (department of the Utena Local Lore Museum), already having a strong material base for the development of ceramicist's residence, during the project focused on involving and encouraging interest in the field of ceramic art and its possibilities. Exceptional opportunities were given to the public to get to know and meet the charismatic ceramicists, who were gathered in the residence by the director of the museum, Jovita Nalevaikienė. The artists were not only engaged in their work, but allowed everyone to touch it, to see how delicate works are born from the unattractive clay at first glance, to try it themselves, revealing the unexpected possibilities of clay. But most importantly, it was loudly confirmed once again that Leliūnai is the capital of ceramicists, always open to those looking for inspiration and space to create, and not necessarily to ceramicists. More details about the offered opportunities and the invitation to reside can always be found here: http://www.utenosmuziejus.lt/apie-muzieju/padaliniai/meno-centras-leliunuose

Perhaps the biggest challenge in the project had Ignalina - to implement the activities of the sculptors' residencies. But sometimes, when you believe the expected result, you don't think about the obstacles. Then, unbelievably, everything turns out better than expected. Together with the team of wonderful sculptors, solutions were found, as a result of which the sculptures became not only traveling, but also the doors of the workshop were opened for everyone who wants to see the stages of the processes, participate in them, and get to know the personalities of the sculptors. Once again, we invite you to remember moments from part of the sculptors' workshop last September: https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/irasas/2000235149/kulturos-diena-skaitmenine-tapatybe-saugomiems-objektams-bei-auganciu-elektros-kainu-poveikis-kulturos-istaigoms?time_start=544&fbclid=IwAR13cZX4Cd-0yVXJLJ3v7qA56lo1wChuiQA8VvjVA0SW3aKjOsjBIWPW2aU (from9:05 min to 13:20 min)

And finally, for dessert, we want to remind you about the romantic plein airs organized by Alvydas Stauskas. The mysterious walls of the monastery and the lyrical landscapes of Antalieptė inspired the creativity of 20 artists who spent a month painting during the "Art Catcher". You can still see the paintings in the Antazavė manor (Zarasai district), where, among other things, various creative activities are constantly taking place, artists are invited to reside and create on the initiative of the Dusetos Gallery. About it here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084006326520

Other works created during the "Art Catcher" will also remain freely available to the public after the project: the sculptures "Gaudyklė" (A. Ališanka), "Soul" (K. Musteikis), "Girl" (A. Danilevičius), "Širdis" (L. Griežė), "Legato" (R. Žievys) located in the public spaces of Ignalina town, U. Logason's painting "Himmel & Ääd" hangs in the collaboration space "Šiaurės stotis" in Švenčionėliai, ceramicists I. Bertašiūtė Grosbah, M. Grosbahs and G. Šibonis ceramic works are exhibited in the arts residence in Leliūnai. And the contemporary circus performance "7 minutes", created in the residence of the Visaginas cultural center, presented in Visaginas, Dūkštas and Utena, continues its journey and is shown to the audience again and again.

After the conference in Paliesius Manor last September, when we counted most of the results of the project, we still managed to do this and that until now and use the last minutes of the project to make the laid foundation even stronger. We went to Klaipėda region to tell about ourselves, to share experiences, to strengthen relations with existing and new partners. It was important to visit other art residencies operating in Lithuania, to meet those involved in the cultural sector and to share everyday life and future plans, to discuss cooperation opportunities. Also Visaginas Cultural Center managed to organize two more residences of the contemporary circus.

The project was international. Firstly we gained experiences in the development of creative activities in Iceland, we found new international partners. Also, the fingers of one hand are not enough to count the countries from which artists have come to the "Art Catcher" residencies. 8 of the 11 residencies that took place during the project were international, artists from Iceland, Ukraine, France, USA, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, and Latvia came to participate in various activities. The creators provided exceptional opportunities for the local public to know better the fields of art represented by them, a joint exhibition of the project's artworks was formed, which traveled throughout the region, and was exhibited in Ignalina, Švenčionys, Utena, Zarasai, Visaginas, Paliesius Manor.

Not only the exhibition traveled. The project team did as well. Through experiences, challenges and to each other. Firsly we visited our partners at the Westfjords residence at the edge of the world in Iceland. After visiting several art oases there, we gained invaluable experiences and encouragement to take our first steps in developing creative residencies in remote areas of our region. Also, during the course of the project, the project team had number of experience exchange activities and educational meetings with each other. We monitored progress, solved various issues together, and learned. Finally, we even went to the Klaipėda region, where we strengthened the partnerships that were created during the project with the art residencies of Kintai, Kražiai, Klaipėda Cultural Communication Center.

For the whole two years, we tried to be visible, showed and were proud of our achievements, invited to events, were also noticed by local television, LRT, and other media channels. For this purpose, the logo of the network of residences was created during the project, and regional project presentation events were organized in Utena, Paliesias Manor, Kintai (Šilutė district). You can always remember the project moments and many activities that took place in detail here https://www.facebook.com/ezerukrastas and here https://ezeru-krastas-1.mozello.lt/menugaudykle/

And some more statistics: 52 creative educational events for the public were organized during the project, which attracted 980 participants from the entire region, also 44 artists from Lithuania and abroad.

During the project, we collected feedback from event participants, which confirmed the need for the activities that promote the availability of cultural products and services. This inspires to continue the started works.

The project was implemented by Public organization Euroregion „Country of Lakes“ Office in Lithuania with partners Visaginas Cultural Center, Utena Local Lore Museum, Forest Harbour, Culture center Dusetos Art Gallery, Ignalina Regional Museum, The Westfjords Residency.

All activities were part of the project "Art Catcher. Development of the Creative Residencies Network in the Country of Lakes Region“. The project was financed by the funds of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, as well as the municipalities of Ignalina, Švenčioni, Utena, Zarasai and Visaginas.

The grant allocated by the financial mechanism to the project is 156 818,25 Eur.